ANC06FA018 · Aero Vodochody L-39MS
Aero Vodochody L-39MS · Accident: in flight collision with terrain/water on approach
From Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (PASI) to Ketchikan International Airport (PAKT)
Event
- NTSB case
- ANC06FA018
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 1 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Instrument Meteorological Cond
Aero Vodochody L-39MS
- Aircraft type
- Aero Vodochody L-39
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N104XX
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (PASI), Sitka, AKTo Ketchikan International Airport (PAKT), Ketchikan, AK
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Approach · circling (IFR)
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- In flight collision with terrain/water
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Compressor assembly, forward fan › Fractured
- Compressor assembly, stator vane › Fractured
- Pilot in command › IFR procedure, not followed
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The airline transport certificated pilot was on a Title 14, CFR Part 91 ferry flight in a military jet surplus warbird when the airplane collided with water and a residential area during an instrument approach to land. During the circle-to-land contact approach, the pilot was advised by an FAA flight service station specialist at the island airport that the weather did not look favorable for a contact approach due to low clouds and visibility. A pilot-rated witness on the shore across from the island reported seeing the airplane descend from the clouds and strike the ocean three times before it climbed out of sight. The witness described the visibility as about 3/4 mile in blowing snow. The airplane continued to fly for approximately 2.3 miles, until other witnesses near a town on the shore heard the engine stop, and saw the jet and a parachute at a low altitude. The airplane collided with the ground in a large lot, and continued into an occupied trailer home and parked vehicles. A postcrash fire ensued. Inspection of the airplane disclosed no preimpact mechanical problems with the airplane. The loss of engine power was consistent with the water impact which damaged the inlet fan and compressor stator. The circle-to-land minimum descent altitude for aircraft with a 120 knot approach speed is 2,500 feet msl, and requires 3 miles visibility. Prior to impact, the pilot attempted to eject from the airplane at a low altitude. The ejection was unsuccessful, and the pilot struck a tree while still in the ejection seat. Inspection of the ejection apparatus disclosed no evidence of any preimpact malfunction.
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to follow published instrument landing procedures and his descent below approach minimums during an IFR circle to land approach, which resulted in the airplane striking the ocean and a loss of engine power. Factors contributing to the accident were low clouds and snow.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ANC06FA018
- Event ID
- 20060202X00153
- Case number
- ANC06FA018
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: fb1aee66274ecc11f673c0166ea87a1214818130feb2185c7e50757ecfd2075d; retrieved 2026-09-20T17:34:48.263Z.